Study: Parents Now Smoke Marijuana More Often Than Their Kids

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new data showing that middle-aged parents are now more likely to use marijuana than their teenage children. Using data from 2002 through 2014, the CDC found that 8-percent of people ages 35 – 44 use marijuana regularly. The same data for teens in 2014 show that 7.4 percent of those ages 12 – 17 use marijuana.

Americans ages 45 – 54 have increased marijuana use by 50-percent, reports The Washington Post. The age group with the biggest increase in marijuana usage is ages 55 – 64. That age group rose in use by 455-percent.

Statistics report author Alejandro Azofeifa said that, “During the last 13 years, marijuana use (i.e., past-month marijuana use) has steadily increased in the United States, particularly among those aged 26 years or older. Older groups had a significant increase of marijuana use in the past month.”

The growing acceptance of medical marijuana has tipped the scales as far as what age groups are using marijuana on a regular basis. Medicare has already seen a significant decrease in the number of prescriptions written for and filled for pain medications in states that allow medical marijuana.

Statistics also show that middle-aged people are using marijuana more in states where it is recreationally legal. Roughly 50-percent of the Baby Boomer generation supports the recreational legalization of marijuana. In Washington State, one-quarter of those purchasing marijuana are over 40 years old.